Oh, hellooooooo. Hello! It's me! How are you? How is your summer? I hope it is going well!

The weather this week has been fairly cool in the morning and blazing hot in the afternoon. I'm finally coming up for air after the past few weeks, which have been overrun with lotion bars and cross-stitch kits. I was really behind. Finally Andy and Katie and I got everything done. It was a great feeling. I literally felt my veins flood with relief when I dropped the last package off at the P.O. Thank you so much to everyone who has been so patient, and thank you to everyone who has written to me and told me that you are pleased with your orders! That makes me feel absolutely great!!! I have a lot of emails to answer and I really am hoping to get to them soon now that I am getting caught up.

The photos are from our front yard. My echinacea is blooming and it is my absolute favorite. Agh. They're such lovely flowers. They seem so emotional. They seem like soulful poets, weary and brave and hopeful. In the very early mornings, I sit in the cool air and wait for the birds to come to our flat feeder. I drink coffee in my nightgown and hope that anyone walking past with a dog, getting in their car to go to work, pushing a grocery-cart full of cans, or jogging down the middle of the street just pretends I am not there. I hear train whistles and birds. Eventually Amelia and Andy come out. Amelia climbs on me or climbs her tree. Andy drinks coffee and pets Clover. Mornings are the nicest. If I ever have a trail name, it's going to be Morning.

So, six weeks of summer left. There are lots of things I want to do and lots of time I just want to spend hanging out. I have lot of things I'm working on that I want to show you. Amelia's been in swimming lessons every morning and will be through this week and next. We'll spend some time at the fountains and the pools and the parks and the river. We're planning to go to the river house we go to every summer for a few days. I have a stack of library books I'm working on. I've designed the fall cross stitch and am starting to stitch it. And I found some delicious soft-serve ice cream with strawberry dust. It's all really been so nice. I have more pictures but I'll save them for another day. I'll have more time, now, to write so you'll see me soon. I hope you are having time yourself to do every summery thing you love. What are those things? Tell me about them. I'd love to hear.

44 comments

I got my shipment this week and it was like Christmas in July! I can't bear to use the lotion bars yet--I am afraid to ruin the beautiful flowers on top ☺. I also LOVE my morning time in my nightgown with just me and the morning fresh air and quiet world. Happy rest of summer dear.

I have been eating really good nectarines from Trader Joe's (by the box!) Last summer I thought I should let myself eat one every day when they are in season. I'm not quite there since I don't get to the store often enough, but I feel properly indulged anyway. I have also come to love mornings, so when my 7-month-old gets me up at 5:15, we just play and cuddle and I drink my coffee until I have to leave for work, and it's the first time in my life, I think, that I've ever had leisure time in the early mornings, when I'm not rushing to get ready with every second between waking up and heading out the door. Weekends are even more delicious, since I have nowhere to be and the mornings are loooong and I'm so ready for her first nap but so happy to have been awake with her since - my new favorite term - sparrow's fart.

I can't wait to see the Fall kit! I am still working on the Spring one though, so we've got time. We have been spending lots of summer days at the river near us too, and parks, the beach, and in the afternoons any place with air conditioning. Mornings are the best in this heat - and on the cooler days, the dusky part of the evening is just as lovely.

My kit is at the PO awaiting collection this afternoon. I'm SO excited. As well as the Christmas and winter kits (not started) and the spring kit in progress I also started your spring ring cross stitch last week. There really aren't enough hours in the day! So looking forward to the fall kit, eek. xx

My summer has been chill! Just finished reading Geek Love by Katherine Dunn. An affecting book with a big Portland connection. Mostly read in the evenings while lying on the grassy lawn surrounded by clover and dandelions. Growing beautiful watermelon radishes. Knocking off work at 4:30 so I can hang out at the neighbors backyard pool reading vanity fair and drink cheap rose from trader joes. Some fun summer music: saw the psychedelic furs and X last night at an outdoor venue, saw Gomez a few weeks ago. Hiking and beach walking. Trolling online for quilting ideas. Eating spring rolls stuffed with basil, mint and cilantro from the garden. sitting in the hammock watching the fog creep in. Cuddling my husband and dog and wondering out loud if our 19 yo son is getting into trouble with his buddies. (he is a a good kid, so no, never really a concern, but its a parents job to worry!)

I have been spending my mornings outside with a cup of coffee and our ducks. They free range for a few hours in the mornings before being locked in their outside run for the rest of the day. It is so peaceful and sweet watching them forage and chitter-chatter with happiness while their little bums wag like dogs’ tails. We had family visiting from England for the past month, and they just went home, so now the lazy days of summer can begin. I dressed the loom with a warp for a shawl for my father, and have slowly begun to weave. I checked 6 mysteries out of the library. The house needs cleaning, but I’m pushing it off til next week. I’m planning on getting a lotion bar from you this fall. Enjoy your days!

Summer! Summer is great piles and layers of green, here. We have had too much rain, but also wicked heat, and so everything is growing and growing. Now, it is at last more temperate, in the 70sF, hooray. I am relieved. ... Summer here is Theatre for my teens, they are in four plays this summer! (Two Shaw, two Shakespeare). So I have barely seen them, which is odd for us as we homeschool, so usually we are together more than not. So for me summer means reading! I have had so much time to read and that is a tremendous gift! (Lots of BookLog posts on my blog — but here are a few titles: midde grades amazing novel about a girl whose mother goes off her meds, sounds serious and it is, but so well written! Where the Watermelons Grow, by Cindy Baldwin ... And then, nonfiction for the mature: Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, by Brittney Cooper ... excellent book).

Your summers always sounds so lovely! My little 4 year old Mia and I spent the afternoon at the swimming pool, and I was flooded with memories of spending the entire day at the pool with my cousins in the west Texas heat, eating snacks on a picnic blanket and drinking ice cold soda pop and then swimming all over again, and I was supremely grateful for the chance to relive childhood with my own child, what a precious gift that is! We also went to the Natural History museum, if you have one near you you should definitely go, you'd be surprised how fascinated your little one is with everything!

I'm enjoying the lotion bar and yarn. It arrived here just fine, thank you! In Spring and Summer I like to have my cup of tea outdoors observing the first rays of sun coming up in the horizon. We take walks outdoors a couple times a week. In the evening we have a symphony of crickets. Wonder what are your favorite recipes for this time of the year.

Now you got me thinking what I love about summer. I love the kids being home & no school rushes, projects or activities. I love a good summer rain storm, there's nothing like it. I love all the watermelon!!!! I love our standing weekly meetings "at the office" with our friends-- we call the beach "the office." It has spectacular views :) I love the downtime of reading in an air conditioned room when it's too hot & humid outside. And I LOVE all the beautiful flowers that spring up everywhere, of which I know the names of hardly any of them, but truly enjoy them all the same.

Your summers have always seemed so idyllic and leisurely to me that I feel for you, having been so busy with orders! Knowing you accomplished all that feels great I am sure. I miss seeing and hearing about your garden beds & pots and what's growing. Summer is all about gardening for me! I like to water all my pots early morning in my PJ's. None of the neighbors are stirring yet and we have privacy from lilac hedges. A simple pleasure to be outside in PJs for sure!

I love those cool, quiet mornings as well. I'm a teacher and only have about 2 weeks of summer left now - why do the days fly by soooo fast? I love my summer x-stitch and the lovely lotion bar (which is too nice to use, right)? I spent a good deal of summer in London and Turkey. I visited my daughter who lives in London (both countries were wonderful), but London is soooo charming and I love how they talk! Turkey had incredible food and the produce was so good! It reminded me of how fruits and veggies should taste - like when I was a kid. Now, I am enjoying every day to the fullest and reading, quilting, smocking, embroidery, and finishing projects finally. Absolutely, love your posts, pics and blog!

This summer has been exceptionally hot for the U.K. ....warm enough to swim in the North Sea : 18°C. It feels like bath water ☺. Bliss to loll about on the beach to dry off then shower off the salt and feel sand-scoured skin,warm and smooth. Downside: the tyranny of watering the tomatoes. Upside: the taste of homegrown tomatoes. It's very unEnglish to go out after 6 pm without an extra layer " just in case" as you know very well that we rarely get evenings warm enough to be out with only a teeshirt/ equivalent: this year is different. 🌞 Not a cardigan to be seen! Stay safe in the sun ( and water ) everyone.

I have special Summer rituals that mark the passing of the season; Little things carried in my heart from the most magical childhood with my wonderful Mom and Daddy along with memories of Grandparents. Continuity is important. Memorial Day weekend is celebrated with patriotism and usually a watermelon on the back porch. June is full of fireflies, early morning or twilight walks, supper on the patio and a dish of cream or honey left on the back stoop for any Fairies that are out and about on Midsummer Night's Eve. I love to spend evenings outside listening to night sounds and watching sunset - here in Texas it can be very pleasant after a scorching hot day. Peaches and tomatoes at roadside stands. S'mores are a must a few times in the Summer and we have a gorgeous river road we enjoy driving and we always include a stop for a drink at the old favorite Camp store/lunch spot that has been there for many years. Reading, napping, finding new rocks, looking at frogs, picking wildflowers . . . happiness is made of small things.

Hi Alicia, I haven't been here in a while and had forgotten how drop-dead beautiful your photography is. I love my echinacea, too, but I don't think I've ever captured them the way you have.So far best times have been gardening, playing fetch with dog at the lake, and visiting one of my sons in Colorado where it was blazing hot and we parked by Boulder Creek to swim and lounge every single day. Glad you got done what you needed to get done and have a little space now.

About

My name is Alicia Paulsonand I love to make things. I live with my husband and daughter in Portland, Oregon, and design sewing, embroidery, knitting, and crochet patterns. See more about me at aliciapaulson.com